A Long Gala

It was only 29 performances, as it turned out. I felt quite proud of my achievement till I found out the Froid music teacher had to be his own accompanist, to the tune of 34 songs. And that left me only a piker.

All the kids did great. My very favorite wasn't part of our group (though I adored every single performance from our school) - it was a very young boy hardly any taller than Devon who sang, "Oh, Give Me a Home". Major cute factor.

Tiggy did quite well on both her pieces. No relation to the quality of her music, but I rolled her hair in foam curlers the night before so she had a riot of ringlets. There were still plenty left by the time she got home, as you can see. But ahem, the music.

Her vocal piece was first, well after lunch. I'd already played around 3/4 of my music by that time. It was the second time that day that I'd played "All Through the Night", and she did awesomely great, of course! Now, the judge did have a little talk with her about the need to stop using chest tones and strengthen her head voice instead. It just might be that she had ALREADY HEARD THOSE WORDS FROM SOMEONE ELSE ONCE OR TWICE OR THREE HUNDREDTY TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew! I'm ok. I'm fine. Really.

Her flute solo was very good considering she's played for less than two months. Also considering that last night when she finally got around to practicing with me, she was breathing between every single note. With considerable hyperventilation, we finally got her phrases stretched out to 1 1/2 - 2 measures at a time, and with the help of her little curly head she nailed it.

Damon got both of his songs out of the way first thing in the morning. His vocal number was a Southern folk hymn, and ok I'll just come right out and say it. He forgot the words. That cost him on his score, but the judge still raved over his beautiful voice. He also collected a whole new following of fans who found him nothing less than angelic. Guess I'll have to let him listen to the Vienna Boys Choir more often.

His trombone piece was the first of three times I would have to play "French Folk Tune", so I wasn't as tired of it as by the time I got to Tiggy. His brass judge was a fellow trombonist, and it was wonderful to see him work with each of the kids and encourage them in their musicianship. Trombone isn't an easy instrument, and I love seeing Damon tackle it. Low brass has always been my fave.

I wish I could tell you about each and every one of the kids I played for today, including my very own nephew. They each conducted themselves like champs, and as proud of them as I am, I know their music teacher must be busting buttons. For most of the day I had "Cactus Jack" stuck in my head, later to be replaced with "Skylark" and a few other catchy tunes.

By the time we had pizza and came home, we were pretty tired. Some sweet widdle people even dropped off a couple hours before their bedtime. I finally had to cover the bodies where they fell.

Tune in two years from now for a report on Devon's solo. Will it be a tuba? Only time will tell.

Taking a break from adventure,
Noni Beth